The Category P Features, Projections, Interpretation

9
The problematic case for the non-uniform approaches is the locative
construction (14) (this is acknowledged in Van Riemsdijk 1998).
(14) Lisa put the book in the drawer.
The locative PP in this construction is assumed to be an argument of the locative
verb, rather than an adjunct (cf. Van Riemsdijk 1998, among others). Consequently,
the PP in (14) has to receive a theta-role from the verb. This, however, creates a
theory-internal paradox: Only PPs headed by a functional P can receive a theta-role.
However, the P in (14) is a locative, semantically contentful P, which should be
classified as ‘semi-lexical’, rather than as functional, and project a predicative PP,
which is not assigned a theta-role.
That the locative P in (14) has the same ‘semi-lexical’ status assumed for the
locative P in (12) is supported by the binding paradigm (8a,b), which shows that
locative PPs, regardless of their relation to the verb (i.e. argument vs. adjunct) behave
uniformly.
To conclude, the non-uniform approach makes an important step forward in not
viewing P as a major lexical category, and in allowing at least some of its members to
be functional. Furthermore, since diversity seems to be strongly associated with P in
several dimensions, making an explicit assumption about it (in one of the
dimensions), instead of ignoring it, is methodologically the right move. The specific
dimension chosen in this approach (i.e. the lexical/functional dimension) is costly, as
it results in a non-uniform theory of P which despite its non-uniformity is not
sufficient to account for the array of challenging phenomena exhibited by P. Finally,
if the lexical/functional distinction is a primitive option for individual Ps, then the
more interesting question of why some Ps can be both ‘semi-lexical’ and functional
(e.g. in, on), whereas others cannot (e.g. under, above), cannot be addressed, in
principle.
In light of the above, let us turn to examine the approach that takes P to be a
uniformly functional head on a par with T, C or D.
1.1.2.2 The functional approach: Grimshaw (1991) develops a theory of
Extended Projection, the goal of which is to derive the observation that functional
categories such as T, C, D tend to appear with fixed complements, whereas lexical